I'm owned by two horses. Romeo is a 17 year old AQHA gelding, who will be putting his trail buddy / babysitter status to good use. Harley is a 7 year old AQHA gelding out of Skys Blue Boy, and this year, we're going to try all KINDS of new things.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Show's On! 11/15 TL#1

I'll write this up in bits & pieces. I forgot my tests at home, so I'll add judge's score & comments later on. For now, at least, please savor my memories of how the tests went, written just like those from the Oct 25th show.

1. Enter working trot, halt at X, salute, proceed working trotWe're going to head left, so let's circle on the left diagonal going in. EEK. That judge ain't smiling. She's scowling. Oh boy... Just grin at her & let's DO THIS!7 = fairly straight

6. C medium walkYes, walk AT the letter. Got it this time. I can feel those judge-beady eyes looking RIGHT at me, yup, there she is. *siiiiiiiiiggggggggh* into the walk. Good job, mister!6 = careful not to pull rein

7. Long free walk down the diagonalSpread hands, wiggle, wiggle, Oop. he wants to break to trot. Don't do that, Ransom! Hold on. Oh my... it's MY FAULT. I'm holding on with my butt. Okay, relax my thighs, left, right, and r-e-l-a-x my butt. There it is. Let's try to not hold on with the hiney again in the ride. No wonder he felt so darn tense.4 = horse to stretch down & out; allow w/rein. head wagging, none seen (?)

8. "A" working trotHalf-Halt, squeeze, Nice job hon. A little more head goings than I'd like, but at least I'm relaxed now. So sorry I didn't realize it before now.6 = a bit hurried

13. Down "A" centerline, halt, salute.We're nearly done. It's almost over. Wow that was a helluva lot better than last month. Ain't perfect, we've got much to do. I've got to learn to let this first test look effortless to the judge. Oh my, she STILL ain't smiling. Settle into the halt... Salute. OH! There! She's smiling now! My goodness... is that a forced smile she just gave me?! Who knows... But it's over.7 = overshot ctr. halt fairly straight

As I left the arena, I could still feel my legs tight. I relaxed them, peered over at Jen, who asked me, "It was better, right? Pat him, tell him Good Boy, something?! You did great! That looked awesome!"

At that moment, it settled in my brain. Our test was amazing. Much Much better than the last show, and in fact, it felt better than the TL#2 from the last show as well. He was really moving forward, he didn't toss his head all over the place, and he also wasn't leaning on my hands as much. I got just out of the arena, got ready to hop off, and Jen said, "Nope. Let's walk him over to the big uncovered arena, out by yourself, and walk him out a bit. There's a few rides in between this one and the next. Let's keep him moving."